Sunday, January 27, 2013

One if by bike, two if by foot

I did a lot of walking yesterday trying to publicize the Beacon St meeting on Monday.
I walked from Kirkland and Beacon up to Porter Sq, and back again, in 23 degree weather.
Because I was anticipating standing around handing out informational flyers, and walking to attach flyers to parked bikes,* I wore a LOT of clothes. Wool long-sleeve T-shirt, wool cardigan, down vest, down coat, wool tights, jeans, wool socks, Ugg, wool hat and wool scarf. To borrow a lovely phrase from Vorpal Chortle, I was like a "woolen onion" with all my layers. While I was walking, I was perfectly comfortable, neither too hot nor too cold. But while biking to the meetup, just a few blocks, I was WAY too hot, even with my down coat unzipped, and my scarf off. When riding home I took off the coat completely and rode in t-shirt, cardigan and vest.

People often ask if I'm going to be warm enough when I'm heading off on my bike. The answer is that you produce a lot of heat when you're exercising, and just a few layers to trap that heat go a long way. You might need two layers or two coats if you're walking, but one layer will do you just fine when you're biking.

*pro-tip when you're looking for bikes that are being regularly ridden at this time of year, look for bikes that are covered in salty grit. Disregard any bike with a flat tire, and think twice about bikes with rusty chains. I saw a lot of very very sad looking bike shaped objects which had clearly been abandoned at the Porter Sq T stop.

And on a completely unrelated note- It's not completely dark at 5pm !!!! So exciting that the darkest days are behind us already!

1 comment:

The worst is when you bike is in the shop at Hub and you have to walk and take the T in the morning knowing that whatever you wear will be inadequate later in the day. You are thankful you have those bags where you can stuff that extra coat though as yes you can zip it open for a breeze but your arms overheat too much as well and create a weird sweaty arms experience. (is my bike in the shop you ask? no why would you think that...) Also I am fairly certain I opened the door for you at Hub on Thursday when I dropped by bike off for work... :)